2025
Paul VanZant
This educator’s service to the Society has been enduring and well-appreciated. He has not only been a Fellow for some time but has more recently acted as the Chair of the Can Geo Education Committee.
John Pollack
Pollack’s efforts as a past Chair of the Expeditions Committee and RCGS Governor were recognized with the Camsell Medal.
2024
Sandra Smith
Sandra Smith, who retired from her position of Executive Assistant to the CEO in June 2024, has been a fixture of the RCGS for thirty-five years.
2023
Mary Jane Starr
This medal was granted for her leadership in geographic education, support of programs and mentorship of the Canadian Geographic Education team
Anthony Hendrie
Anthony has been a generous contributor to and ongoing supporter of the Society and its programs.
2022
Lynn Moorman
Lynn Moorman is a professor at Mount Royal University; for her dedication to the Society in the roles of Governor and Can Geo Education Executive, and creating learning resources used in educational outreach.
Gavin Fitch
For his service to the Society as a Governor, Vice-President and two-term President, in addition to serving as a member on a number of committees, Fitch won this medal.
2021
Alison Gill
Gill is a former governor and committee member.
Susan Taylor
Susan Taylor was recognized a designer and producer of many of the Society medals featured here.
2020
Keith Exelby
The medal was awarded to Keith Exelby in recognition of his many contributions to the Society. Exelby served several terms as Treasurer and chaired the Finance Committee, CGE Management Board and Audit Committee.
Joan and Doug Heyland
Joan and Doug Heyland are exemplary volunteers who have given many years of tireless work on various Society committees. Doug served on the Research & Grants Committee for eight years and the Audit Committee for eight years. Joan, an educational consultant in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, served on both the Research & Grants Committee and the Fellows Committee.
2019
Beth Dye and Joe Frey, CD
Beth Dye, teacher, educator, coach, administrator and Fellow, has served the Society in a range of capacities for more than twenty years. Joseph Frey is an explorer, diver, writer, speaker, world traveler, and tireless advocate for the Society and its mission.
2018
Dr. Paul Ruest and Élisabeth Nadeau
Ruest has been an active volunteer and contributor to the Society for 15 years. In 2011, he became vice-president of the Society and in 2014, he assumed the role of president. His focus and determination have resulted in a stronger, more diverse, dynamic and enterprising organization. Élisabeth Nadeau became a Fellow over 20 years ago, and so began two decades of incomparable service to the Society. From her ardent support of Géographica, and through her many contributions to the Board of Governors, Awards Committee, Endowment Fund, Nominating Committee and By-Law Committee, Nadeau strengthened and enhanced the Society.
2017
Jody Decker and Philip Howarth
During a period when the Society was functioning under severe financial constraints, Jody Decker was a passionate and constant advocate for the funding of the research and grants program, emphasizing its importance to university students over the course of their geography studies. As a long-standing member and chair of the Lectures Committee, Howarth delivered a national outreach program that engaged Canadians, served the Society’s educational mission, and raised the profile of the RCGS by establishing innovative new partnerships.
2016
Mark Graham, Peter Harrison and Christine Duverger-Harrison
Mark Graham is vice-president, research and collections, at the Canadian Museum of Nature. Peter Harrison and Christine Duverger-Harrison are long-serving Society volunteers; Harrison is a past vice-president of the RCGS.
2015
Bruce Amos and Louise Maffett
Amos speaks and thinks passionately about Canada, Canadian Geography and the RCGS and our role in the Canadian fabric to promote Canada to the world. As photographer Bruce was the driving force behind the Can Geo Photo Club (2008). Louise Maffett became the Executive Director of the RCGS in 1995, a position she occupied until December 2010. During that period she was instrumental in the rapid and significant increase in membership, and very importantly in helping to raise the funds to launch Géographica.
2014
Dr. Christopher Burn and Dr. Iain Wallace
Christopher Burn has served the Society for more than 20 years in positions including vice president and the chair of the Nominating, Research and Grants, and Policy and Planning committees. Iain Wallace has served the Society for 31 years in board positions including the Awards, Editorial Advisory, Research and Grants, and Policy and Planning committees.
2013
Sir Christopher Ondaatje
After immigrating to Canada in 1956, Sir Christopher Ondaatje became a member of the Canadian Olympic bobsleigh team in 1964. He then moved on to a successful career in finance and publishing before becoming a writer and global adventurer.
2012
Jean Fournier
A Fellow and Governor of The Royal Canadian Geographical Society (RCGS) for more than 15 years, Jean Fournier has helped in fundraising efforts and was involved in the creation of the Canada Post envelope that marked the Society’s 75th anniversary in 2004.
2011
Gisèle Jacob and Arthur E. Collin
Gisèle Jacob was the first female president of the Society, a position she held from 2004 to 2010. A number of notable developments occurred under her leadership, including the launch of The Canadian Atlas Online and the publication of Canadian Geographic Travel. Arthur E. Collin was president from 1998 to 2004, the year of the Society’s 75th anniversary and several special initiatives, including the joint publication of The Canadian Atlas with Reader’s Digest Canada.
2010
Pierre Bergeron and Helen Kerfoot
A journalist and former book and newspaper publisher, Bergeron offers an invaluable perspective on the publishing industry as a member of the Canadian Geographic Enterprises (CGE) Management Board and the Society’s Finance and Audit committees. An Ottawa-based geographer with an unparalleled expertise in geographical names, Kerfoot has served on the Board of Governors and numerous committees. As a member of the Editorial Advisory Committee, she helped form Canadian Geographic’s policy regarding Canadian place names.
2009
Ted Johnson and James Raffan
Johnson joined the Society’s Board of Governors in 1994, contributing his legal and financial expertise to as many as seven committees at once. Raffan is a passionate environmentalist and author who served as a former executive director of the Canadian Canoe Museum in Peterborough.
2008
Ken Boland and Carman Joynt
Boland and Joynt served the RCGS for decades, professionally and as volunteers. The former was its legal counsel from 1990 until his retirement and served on the Board of Governors as well as multiple committees. The latter sat on the Canadian Geographic Enterprises Management Board and began his work at the Society as an accountant involved in auditing in 1974.
2007
Brian Osborne and Stuart Semple
Stuart Semple not only helped to found the Canadian Council for Geographic Education but was also instrumental in creating the Great Canadian Geography Challenge (now the Canadian Geographic Challenge). Brian Osborne served on multiple RCGS committees for over 20 years and earned a position as adjunct professor emeritus at Queen’s University.
2006
Karen Lochhead and Michael Schmidt
Karen Lochhead is a former cartographer for the Atlas of Canada and served as a director and member of several RCGS over the course of decades. Mike Schmidt led the 1992 Logan Expedition and has been a member of the Board of Governors as well as several committees.
2005
Dénis St-Onge and James Maxwell
As executive director in the 1990s, James Maxwell helped establish the Canadian Council for Geographic Education. Dénis St-Onge, meanwhile, became president of the RCGS in 1992 and was crucial to our French-language publications.
2004
Alexander Davidson and Samuel Arsenault
Al Davidson played an essential part in the dramatic growth of Canadian Geographic Magazine in the 1970’s and served as a Director for 19 years. Samuel Arsenault dedicated a tremendous amount of time to the Society and was commended in particular for his work with the Lectures Committee.
2003
David Kirkwood and Blair Seaborn
Blair Seaborn and David Kirwood saw the launch of the French-language magazine géographica as a highlight of their time at the Society. Kirkwood sat on the finance and audit committees, while Seaborn served on the finance and lectures committees.
2002
Alan Gibbons
Alan O. Gibbons joined the Board of Directors for the RCGS in 1975 and served for more than a decade during one of the most trying periods in the Society’s history: he played a key role in the finance committee’s efforts to weather that particular storm.
2001
Dickson Mansfield
Dickson Mansfield spent thousands of volunteer hours in supporting the educational arm of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, the Canadian Council for Geographic Education.
2000
Winifred Wadasinghe-Wijay
The winner of the 2000 Camsell Award earned the title through 27 years of work above and beyond the call of duty as Society’s accountant, taking the lead in modernizing RCGS’ accounting and payroll departments.
1999
Pierre Camu and Grete Hale
The first recipients of the new bronze medal for Camsell Award winners, Grete Hale and Pierre Camu were recognized for their efforts as a long-serving board & committee member and a former Society president, respectively.
1998
George Hobson and Pierre Des Marais II
George Hobson was key to Canada’s growth in the field of Arctic geoscience, contributing as he did as the leader of the Polar Continental Shelf Project both in a managerial role and an applied scientist. Pierre Des Marais II, meanwhile, was a dedicated volunteer at the RCGS alongside work as a businessman.
1997
Enid Byford and Robert Goddard
Byford was recognized for her work on the editorial side of our Can Geo magazine while Bob Goddard was celebrated for his outstanding contribution to what was at the time titled the “Great Canadian Geography Challenge”.
1996
David Bartlett
1995
William Gilchrist and Lou Sebert
Gilchrist was awarded the Camsell Medal in 1995 for his contributions to the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, after winning the Massey Medal for his contributions to science in 1975. Sebert earned this recognition with his outstanding work for the Society alongside his efforts in mapping and surveying.
1994
Wendy Simpson-Lewis
Simpson-Lewis began her association with the Royal Canadian Geographical Society in the 1970s as a geographer and specialist in the development of public information. She served on several committees, including the executive and educational advisory committees.
1993
David Phillips and Ernest Weeks
Climatologist David Phillips served the Society as a Governor, lecturer and writer of the popular “Weather-wise” column in Canadian Geographic. A key member of the Society’s Editorial Advisory Committee for many years, Ernest Weeks was vital to publishing articles on subjects that rarely reach the public.
1992
Keith Fraser and Samuel Hughes
The Camsell Award was established to recognize outstanding service to the Society. Dr. J. Keith Fraser was one of two first recipients, as a former executive director. Samuel F. Hughes, a Society treasurer, was the other.
